Sunday, February 15, 2015

It was Valentines Day, 39 years ago, when John & I were married. Where in the world has the time gone??? We didn't have the wedding I/we had always dreamed of. It was instead domineered by my mother. Rather than a beautiful white wedding gown, I wore a pretty pale blue dress. Our friends were not our bridesmaids & groomsmen; my brother & sister-in-law were in their place. Instead of a church full of people to celebrate with us, there were only a handful of my mother's choosing. Rather than a large reception with a band & lots of food & dancing & merriment, we had snacks & cake at my parents' house. No professional photographer ... just my best friend Ruthie with her Kodak Instamatic. But we were filled with love & with dreams. The years ahead of us were sometimes exciting, sometime difficult, sometimes sad. We experienced joy, but also heartbreak; good fortune, but also unfairness. To put it simply, we experienced life. But through it all, our love was the glue (Crazy Glue) that held us together. It's still holding ... & as I told John yesterday, I'm looking forward to the next 39 years. He agreed : )

Last week we took a trip to Las Vegas for a few days to celebrate not only our anniversary/Valentines Day but also John's birthday which was earlier this month. We had a great time. The weather was amazing! The sun shone brightly every day, & temperatures were in the low to mid 70s ... always with a gentle breeze blowing. We were having so much fun that barely took any photos! Here is John on the walkway between the MGM Grand Hotel & the New York-New York Hotel.

Can you see the roller coaster rails? We rode that roller coaster & let me tell you ... it's not like any roller coaster I've ever ridden before. The last time I rode a roller coaster was when we lived in Florida & visited Disney World. Our son was pre-kindergarten at the time & he & I rode Space Mountain. This was around 27 years ago. I always thought that coaster was the scariest one I'd ever ridden. Not anymore! I was okay as our string of cars made its way up the first incline, but I spent the next two minutes or so ... however long the ride was ... filled with terror! I should have known something was up when they made us empty our pockets & put everything into a locker before we could get into our car. It was made of steel, I guess ... some kind of heavy metal ... with a huge padded bar that came over your lap & another huge padded headgear type thing that went down on each side of your head to your shoulders. There were signs warning you to keep your head against the back of the seat & to keep all your body parts inside the car. The dips were horrifyingly high & steep. We went upside down at times, & at other times we went sideways. There was one point where the string of cars sort of evened out & slowed down & I began thanking God that the ride was blessedly over, but then it started up again! Honestly, if there is a word more intense than "terrifying" to describe this thing, then that is the word that should be used here. My eyes were closed & I never stopped praying from the time we went down that first dip to the end of the ride for it to be over. Also, it was not a good idea for someone with cervical & lumbar disk problems to ride this thing. They really should have had a warning sign somewhere about that. I am still stiff & sore. John loved it (he loves all types of roller coasters) & he would have gladly ridden it again & again. He'd be on his own! I kept thanking God that we did not wait in the line to ride in the first seat! I don't think I would have lived to tell the tale! Below is a photo of me also taken on the walkway between the two hotels. If you look closely on the left side of the photo, you can see part of the coaster rails here too.

We did a lot of walking & played a lot of penny slots in the various casinos. We also had a lot of good food & visited one of the Bouchon bakeries (this one, in fact) that are prevalent on the strip.

I've seen these macaroons for sale hither & yon, but I never tried them because they don't look like the "normal" macaroons I'm used to. This time I tried them ... & all I can say is I'm thankful we don't have one of these bakeries around here or I'd be as big as a house! I bought one of the vanilla macaroons to try one day (I'm a vanilla kind of gal) & the next day I went back to get a box of them! They are all gone now ... lol!

We stayed at the Signature Hotel ... part of the MGM Grand ... which I would not recommend, but the views from the balcony were nice, especially at night.

We had an uneventful journey to Las Vegas. On the way home our plane was delayed, but only for an hour ... & our car wouldn't start when we got to the parking garage, but the airport parking angel came & jump started it. It was a mystery to him why it wouldn't start, but thankfully it's been running smoothly every since.

Yesterday we went to Lexington to have a Valentines/anniversary dinner at Red Lobster. On our way there we passed by an accident that had just happened. Many good Samaritans had already stopped to help, so we kept on going to get out of the way. I couldn't help but think, however, that if we had been driving just a tad faster, we might have been involved. There were some injuries, but it didn't appear that any were serious. God was looking out for all of us.

I took some knitting along to do on the plane & while waiting for connections. I didn't get much done, but I'll show a photo in another post of what I did accomplish. I'll catch you all up on my cross stitching as well : )

Happy anniversary (a day late)! Sorry you didn't have the wedding of your dreams, but you prove that's not necessary to have a marriage made of dreams (and real life). We haven't been to Vegas for years but if we do make it back I definitely won't be visiting that roller coaster! The last time I was on one was during my daughter's 8th grade trip to St. Louis and Six Flags; I rode with one of the young men because no one else would and I wanted everyone to get to do what they most wanted, but as we went all around and upside down I was yelling, "Nick, what have you gotten me into?!!!" I do believe that was my last roller coaster ever. :). Have a beauty week!

I love your sweet wedding photo! You look so young and full of life! I guess we all looked that way when we got married!!! (We just had our 31st)I have seen that roller coaster--but I have NOT been on it! I don't do roller coasters! You are one brave girl!!!! My hat's off to you!

Glad the trip was good for you. I enjoyed seeing your picture from the wedding! I'm with you on No More Roller Coasters! I learned that when I was about 10 but tortured myself a few more times after that before swearing them off!! Hugs!

So glad your trip was a good one. What were you THINKING going on a roller coaster woman?! I am praying for your body to heal and for you and John to have many more years.I loved the wedding picture! And I WANTED a pale pink dress. Brian said no way!!

Happy Anniversary! Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I think roller coasters get more intense the older I get. Glad you weren't part of that accident and that no one appeared to be seriously injured. From the weather reports I'm hearing, sounds like you're getting some winter weather. Stay warm!

Happy Belated Anniversary, Shirlee! I had to laugh when I saw the photo of John as my husband had a very similar looking mustache back in the mid-70s when I met him! We are obviously of the same "fine vintage!"

Glad you enjoyed the Vegas trip--we were only there once 15 years ago and that was enough for me. Just not my type of city. We had the boys with us and men kept approaching us on the street with flyers advertising various "services." UGH!!! But, I did enjoy walking around and looking at the various themed hotels...

Wishing you many more happy years together--hope your back feels better soon after that scary ride!